A higher-order ambisonics (HOA) signal (often represented by a plurality of spherical harmonic coefficients (SHC) or other hierarchical elements) is a three-dimensional representation of a soundfield. The HOA or SHC representation may represent the soundfield in a manner that is independent of the local speaker geometry used to playback a multi-channel audio signal rendered from the SHC signal. The HOA or SHC representation may be encoded. Corresponding video data may also be encoded, as well as other media data, such as timed text.
After media data, such as audio or video data, has been encoded, the media data may be packetized for transmission or storage. The media data may be assembled into a media file conforming to any of a variety of standards, such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) base media file format and extensions thereof.